The past eight meetings between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium all had one thing in common; a loss for the visitors.
Thursday night, however, the Pirates changed that with a 10-5 victory, their first on the road against the Cardinals in 2015.
The Pirates were aided by a seven-run first inning in which they batted around. Neil Walker got a hit from both sides of the place, the first Pirates player to do that in the same inning since at least 1961.
Cardinals starter Lance Lynn [9-7] did not make it out of the first inning, going 0.2 innings, the shortest start of his career.
Walker started with a one-out triple and Andrew McCutchen batted him in with a double to put the Pirates on the scoreboard first. With some assistance from McCutchen, Jung Ho Kang reached safely on a Matt Carpenter throwing error. McCutchen scored on the play. Pedro Alvarez then doubled the Pirates run total with his 17th home run of the season, which was hit to center field. After Francisco Cervelli was hit by a pitch, the Cardinals had a mound discussion. Travis Ishikawa then safely reached base with a single.
Two batters later, Francisco Liriano helped his own cause with an RBI single. After Gregory Polanco singled in a sixth run, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny removed Lynn from the game and brought in Tyler Lyons. Walker was the first batter Lyons faced and he singled in the seventh run of the inning.
According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the seven-run first inning was the biggest first inning since scoring nine runs against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 20, 2010. Also, this was the first time the Pirates scored at least seven runs in a road first inning since June 8, 1989.
The Cardinals were able to cut the score to 7-5, however, Tony Watson came in and retired all five batters he faced, earning his league-leading 28th hold of the season.
“Tony has shown the ability to go multiple innings,” manager Clint Hurdle said to reporters following the game. “He just came in and went to work. It was a big effort for him.”
In the first inning, the Cardinals countered with two runs on a Yadier Molina RBI single. An additional run was scored in the sixth inning when Kolten Wong grounded into a force out.
Joakim Soria relieved Liriano [8-6] in the seventh inning and encountered trouble. Jhonny Peralta singled in a run and Molina hit a sacrifice fly to plate the fifth run.
After Watson departed the game, the Pirates had a three-run ninth inning to pull away. Walker doubled, his 25th of the season, and scored pinch-runner Starling Marte. With Polanco at third, Kang grounded into a double play, resulting in the ninth Pirates run of the contest. Aramis Ramirez added a single to plate McCutchen.
Mark Melancon made an appearance in the ninth inning and retired the side in order. Marte stayed in the game during the inning, playing left field. He is still battling a left hand contusion and prior to the game was listed as day-to-day.
The Pirates will next face the New York Mets in a weekend series. J.A. Happ [0-1 8.31 ERA] will face Bartolo Colon [10-11 4.76 ERA]. Happ is 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA in nine career appearances [seven starts] against the Mets. At the time of this recap, the Mets had a four game lead over the Washington Nationals in the National League East.
Earlier in the day, the Chicago Cubs won once again, meaning the Pirates maintained their 1.5 game lead for the first wild card spot.
Of note: Aramis Ramirez began taking grounders at first base today. Ramirez has no major league experience playing first base. Pedro Alvarez has 16 errors this season and a career-worst -1.7 WAR. This also gives Ramirez some flexibility with Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer closer to returning to the Pirates. Ramirez told reporters prior to the game that he would do whatever is needed to help this team win. Ramirez has four errors since rejoining the Pirates and a -0.7 combined WAR [-0.1 with the Pirates] at third base this season.
Harrison and Mercer continued their rehab assignments. Harrison played second base and went 0-for-4 at the plate while Mercer went 2-for-4 with two singles.
Photo credit: Tom Gannam/AP Photo
